Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

The NLNN Club

by Tommy Towery

Class of ‘64

Carol Jean and Sarajane and I used to go to Mullin’s Drive-In and eat after school. Our last class of the day was journalism, where we worked on Lee’s Traveller; which, by the way, was named by Woody. That was the real “paper” Traveller back in 1964, not the one today that Rainer often writes for. Sometimes, we’d ask Escoe to go with us. It was great fun. I don’t know what J.R. or Niles did after school, but I don’t remember seeing them there, nor do I ever remember seeing Hub. Maybe he was doing something with C.E. or Milton.

If I said we enjoyed playing songs on the jukebox sung by Elvis and Cher, would there be any doubt about who I was talking about? I don’t think so. You didn’t have to mention Elvis’s or Cher's last names; everyone knows who they are. They are famous around the world and their concerts usually just listed their first names and no last names were needed.

There are some people who are like that, with such fame or who have such unusual or unique names that we always know who they are, without ever hearing their last names. While reading the first paragraph of this article, was their any doubt in your mind as to which of your classmates I was referring? No, they were so well known that you don’t have to ask the question. A lot of our classmates didn’t need last names. They are the ones I nominate for the No-Last-Name-Needed Club.

I’m not one of them. I’m one of the other group. I went to school with a bunch of Tommys. There were also a lot of Johns, Bobs, Davids, Bills, as well as Carols, Suzys, Nancys, Barbaras, and Lindas. There were so many in those groups that people always had to use their last names to know who they were.

Although the NLNN Club members were popular, they were still friendly with everyone, and most of us knew them, no matter what class year they belonged to or we belonged to. Now I am sure that others came along after the Class of ’64 graduated who are just like that. I’m also sure that there are many that I left out of my list that you can think of that also should be nominated for the NLNN Club. I came up with the short list in my opening paragraph above from memory, without opening my yearbook to go through any pictures trying to identify the ones that stand out.

It’s time again for reader participation. Can you add to the list above and give me some other classmates who I will be able to recognize without hearing their last names? I’m not talking about those with unique nicknames which were used only in special groups; names like “Snuffy” or “Mickey Sue” or even “T. Tommy”. I’m talking about the everyday names that people were called by teachers, parents, and friends alike. I can think of several more, but I have to leave some for you. See who you can come up with and e-mail me.

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Brylcreem, a little dab will do ya.

Brylcreem, you look so debonair

Brylcreem, the girls will all pursue ya

They love to get their fingers in your hair.

We had a great response to the Brylcreem jingle contest. Isn't it amazing what stays in our memory and what doesn't? This contest offered a prize for the first correct winner which turned out to be Sandra Parks Bozeman. She'll be getting her copy of "While Our Hearts Were Young, Vol. 1" in the mail shortly.

Here are the Classmates with the correct answer and their comments, listed in the order in which they were received.

Sandra Parks Bozeman, Class of '67 - My Dad once grabbed the Brylcreem tube thinking it was Colgate and brushed his teeth with it. He said he kept wondering what the new flavor was!

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Phil Rairigh, Class of '64 - I remember that Brylcreem seemed to work well, but smelled odd, to me anyway.

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Sherman Banks, Class of '65 - Loved it, (when I had hair). Tommy and company, Keep up the good work!!!

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Linda Beal Walker, Class of '66 - I woke my brother early this morning so he could help me solve this one. He's the trivia expert in the family.

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Shirley Jones Moore, Class of '66

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Sarajne S Tarter, Class of '65 - I didn't know there was a movie entitled 'The Brylcreem Boys". Did you?

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Annette McCraney, Class of '64 - All I can say is at the time, there was one hairdressing for men -Brylcreem, and one for women-Alberto VO5.

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Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly, Class of '64 - It's probably not fair for me to enter because (no kidding!) I was just singing this jingle about 5 or 6 days ago and thought about asking you to put it on the website! When you asked us to think about products, etc. from the past, this is the first one I came up with. Sort of like the "Spam" thing, huh?

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Cherri Polly Massey, Class of '66

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Mike Acree, Class of '64 - Anyone who remembers my hair knows I didn't use this stuff. Whoever drew my name in Mrs. Lowery's 9th grade gift exchange--sorry I can't remember for sure--gave me a tube of VO5!

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Dwight Jones, Class of '64 - I remember watching the advertisement on TV,but I never did use any brylcreem. I always keep my hair cut short above the ears. That way I would have a few more pennies to spend on something else...like gas or girls.

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Jeff Fussell, Class of '66 - I always liked Vitalis myself.

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Jennifer White Bannecke, Class of '66 - Greasyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

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Dianne Hughey McClure, Class of '64 - My brother used it. I remember I thought was a greasy but neat look.

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Jim Bannister, Class of '66 - I would have completed this on Sunday if I had know how to spell "Debonair".

The Brylcreem tube was the same size & color scheme of Colgate toothpaste and I, more than one time, ended up with Brylcreem on my toothbrush.

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Patrice Waller Williams, Class of '71 - It was the guy's answer to DIPPITY DO - thank goodness by the time our class graduated, long hair was in for guys and girls and Brylcreem was on it's way out!

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Other Ads That Clogged Our Brains

by Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly

Class of '64

This may still be on the box, but here's one for you:

Crest has been shown to be an effective dentifrice when used in a conscientously applied program of oral hygiene and regular professional care.

Also,

Double your pleasure, double your fun, with double-good, double-fresh, Doublemint gum. (Usually accompanied by a set of twins.)

You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent. (This is nasty -- if you had to depend on Pepsodent to get rid of yellow, you probably were smoking too much!)

And do you remember the Teaberry shuffle? I can still see the guy carrying the briefcase and hear the little tune.

Even worse, here's one that we used to sing (don't remember why), and it wasn't even a real product -- at least I don't think it was:

Get rid of that nagging cough (cough, cough),

That runny nose (sniff),

That sneeze (ah-choo),

That wheeze (wheeze),

And other injuries.

Take Jeremiah Peabody's, poly-unsaturated, quick-dissolving, fast-acting, pleasant-tasting, green-and-purple pills.

I don't know why I retain so much garbage, but when it comes time to remember a real event, my brain is fuzzy. Go figure. Anyway, I thought it was weird that I was thinking of submitting the Brylcream jingle to you last week.

And just for the record re: the use of Brylcreem: "No one ever used a little dab, no one looked debonair, no one was pursued by the gals, and we did not love to get our fingers in your hair!" That stuff was gross. Like Alberta VO-5 for women. Just gross!

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Subject:Baking Soda

Gary Kinkle

Class of ‘64

Reading the articles about the frogmen reminded me of something we used to make with lye (I think it was lye).

We would put water and a rolled up piece of aluminum foil in a coke bottle, and drop in lye. A balloon was placed over the top lip of the bottle.

The aluminum foil would dissolve creating a gas that would fill the balloon. After tying the balloon, it would be released. It would float away, just like the helium balloons bought at the fair. Does anyone else remember doing this?

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Subject:Brylcreem

Ginger Dickerson Canfield

Class of '72

Even though the Brylcreem ad proclaimed the "a little dab will do ya!", I found that a little dab is TOO MUCH when it is accidentally placed on the toothbrush of a sleepy 8 year old! YUCK!!! I had picked up my brother, Jack's, Brylcreem off the sink instead of the toothpaste. I never made THAT mistake again, but I still loved the cartoon of the ponytailed girl chasing the guy around, and always will. I have many happy memories of when I had a brother and two sisters at LHS (Jack Dickerson,'64, Jill Dickerson and Pat Birchfield '66). Several cousins are also Lee grads, and I even married a Lee grad! So I really enjoy your newspaper. A special Thank You to all of you who work so hard to get each copy ready, and esp. to Tommy for publishing it for us all to stroll down memory lane!!!

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Live To Be 80?

submitted by Bob Walker

Class of '64

I recently picked a new primary care physician. After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age. A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him,

"Do you think I'll live to be 80?"

He asked, "Well, do you smoke tobacco or drink beer or wine?"

"Oh no," I replied. "I'm not doing either."

Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"

I said, "No, my other Doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?"

No, I don't," I said.

He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?"

"No," I said. "I don't do any of those things."

He looked at me and said, "Then why do you give a sh*t if you live to be

80?

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